1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ladder brackets, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved ladder bracket for supporting a conventional extension ladder on a building under construction. Typically, ladders must be utilized to access various portions of buildings under construction. In the past, 2.times.4 or other scrap lumber was utilized to form make shift blocks for securing a conventional extension ladder in a desired position. The construction of such make shift arrangements was time consuming and not entirely safe. In order to overcome this problem, the present invention provides a ladder bracket which may be quickly and easily installed on a variety of different work surfaces on buildings under construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of brackets are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a bracket is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,098, which issued to H. Wannop on Dec. 1, 1953. This patent discloses a wall hook including a transversely extending flange adapted to be secured by threaded fasteners to an intended supporting surface. A perpendicularly attached hook member is provided for supporting various articles. U.S. Pat. No. 2,823,808, which issued to E. Hindi on Feb. 18, 1958, discloses a rifle rack which includes independently mounted parallel side rails, each including a pair of vertically spaced hook members adapted for engagement with opposite end portions of a rifle. U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,218, which issued to H. Graham on Apr. 16, 1966, discloses an article display board which includes a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally extending slots adapted for insertion of flanged hook members for supporting and displaying various articles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,167, which issued to C. Becker et al on May 2, 1967, discloses a hanger bracket for tubular structures. A sheet metal member includes a first end portion bent into a circular radius, forming a hook for engagement with a tubular member. An opposite end portion of the sheet metal member is bent into a right angular flange and is provided with a keyhole shaped slot for securement to an intended mounting surface by a fastener. U.S. Pat. No. 3,360,075, which issued to K. Gutner on Dec. 26, 1966, discloses a bed ladder hook utilized in mounting a ladder on a bunk type bed. The hook member includes a right angular strip of sheet metal having one leg provided with vertically spaced apertures for engagement with threaded fasteners. End portions of each leg form channel shaped flanges.
While the above mentioned devices are suited for their intended usage, none of these devices disclose a ladder bracket suitable for supporting an extension ladder on an intended work surface of a building under construction. Additionally, none of the aforesaid devices discloses a ladder bracket having a pair of spaced parallel side rails connected by transverse supporting struts and each having a first end bent into an arcuate hook configuration and a second end provided with three keyhole shaped apertures arranged in a triangular array. Additional features of the present invention, not contemplated by the aforesaid prior art devices include the provision of securement tabs mounted by hinges on each of the side rails and including captured extensible driven fasteners. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of ladder brackets, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such ladder brackets, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.